Local court officials are reviewing how much money defendants should have to pay to get out of jail when they’re accused of domestic violence and other crimes.

The closer look at the county’s bond system is due partly to public concern over the shooting death of Zeljka Sekulic in mid-December. It’s also part of ongoing work by Stark County judges, prosecutors and police to find better ways of handling of domestic violence cases.

Sekulic’s ex-husband, Dragan Sekulic, is accused of killing her while he was out on bond and awaiting trial on charges of felonious assault and domestic violence. Police said he had crashed his vehicle into his ex-wife’s car in November, running her off the road and leaving her trapped.

After Zeljka’s death, her friends and supporters protested and took to social media, asking why Dragan Sekulic was let out of jail.

But most defendants charged with a felony crime or misdemeanor domestic violence in Stark County aren’t behind bars.

The Repository analyzed all felony cases and misdemeanor domestic violence cases that were pending in December.

Out of about 700 defendants:

n 166 or 24 percent were in jail.

n 349 or 50 percent had been released on bond, including at least 253 who were referred to a pretrial release program for monitoring.

n 173 or 25 percent were wanted by police. Many had not been arrested on the initial warrant.

THE NUMBERS

Prosecutors and judges said they were not surprised by the numbers.

However, Stark County Prosecutor John D. Ferrero said the percentage of defendants who posted bond “might seem a little bit high” to the general public.

“A lot of people have the ability to post bond, either because they’re working and they can go to a bonding company or a family member gets them out,” he said.

Stark County Public Defender Tammi Johnson said the percentages didn’t shock her, but the number of defendants who were out on bond was higher than she would have assumed.

Wayne Graham, a longtime defense attorney, said it’s significant that about 25 percent of the defendants were in jail.

He said the public, as well as court officials, should not lose sight of one of the fundamental principles of the criminal justice system: Defendants are innocent until proven guilty.

“We are holding people who can’t make bond, who in eyes of the law are innocent,” Graham said. “I guess the question is, as a society, how do we feel about locking up people who are innocent?”

REVIEWING BOND

The county’s Corrections Planning Board helps judges set bond guidelines. Established by state law, the board includes prosecutors, public defenders, jail officials, cops, judges, mental health and addiction specialists and others who work in the court system.

A subcommittee of the planning board is in the early stages of discussing potential changes to the bond guidelines, also known as the bond schedule, for some charges, including domestic violence.

The Repository’s analysis found that of the 700 defendants reviewed in mid-December, 224 faced a felony or misdemeanor domestic violence charge. Of those, 42 were in jail, 119 were out on bond and one was in federal custody. The rest were wanted by police.

Canton Municipal Court Judge John Poulos said domestic violence is the primary reason for launching the committee.

Poulos set bond for Dragan Sekulic after he was accused of crashing into his ex-wife’s vehicle in late November. The judge doubled the amount suggested by the bond schedule for felonious assault, from $50,000 to $100,000.

Less than two weeks later, Dragan Sekulic was charged with killing his ex-wife. (Sekulic, 38, is now being held at the Stark County Jail in lieu of $5 million bond as he awaits trial.)

Canton Municipal Court Judge Curt Werren, who asked for the subcommittee review, said Poulos set the initial bond appropriately in the Sekulic case.

“It was a tragedy, and anytime a tragedy happens, there’s a lot of review of ‘can anything be done better?’ ” Werren said. “You continue to review your system and your rules to help, and that’s being done.”

The committee is studying the bond schedules used in other counties. Any changes would be approved by municipal judges in Stark County.

SECOND GROUP

Overall, Werren said, bond is a “small piece of the puzzle” in addressing domestic violence.

A second group, headed by the county prosecutor, formed in the wake of the Sekulic case to take a broader look at domestic violence. Members include police chiefs, judges, city officials, elected officials, prosecutors, law directors and representatives of the sheriff’s department.

“We’re not saying anything was done incorrectly in that case or in any other case, but let’s look at it as a criminal justice system,” said Ferrero, the county prosecutor.

The number of felony domestic violence-related cases is rising: 226 in 1998; 303 in 2010; 378 in 2014; and 418 in 2015, according to records provided by the county prosecutor’s office.

“We’re not seeing a decline at all,” Ferrero said. “It’s just a bad situation. We do our best, but in a lot of cases, if we don’t have a victim willing to come forward, it makes it very difficult.”

Speeding the time it takes to get a domestic violence case to trial could protect victims, according to the county prosecutor’s office.

Direct indictments would take domestic violence cases to the grand jury within 10 days of an arrest. Traditional indictments take up to 90 days. During that time some victims decide not to cooperate or can’t be found to testify, said Melissa Day, assistant county prosecutor.

PAST EFFORT

Local courts have reviewed their approach to domestic violence before.

Poulos, the municipal court judge, chaired a committee on the subject between 1997 and 2001.

“The one thing that I think came out of that was the agreement that batterers should go to a longtime counseling program, 52-week minimum,” he said.

Poulos said that since the Sekulic case, he’s received more requests from the city prosecutor’s office to increase bond in domestic violence cases.

“We’re taking a case-by-case approach and just trying to get more information,” he said. “As a judge, I need more information.”

City Prosecutor Ty Hauritz said his office is “looking at each case individually, and the facts and merits of the case, and recommending a bond” to the judge.

ASSESSING RISK

In other parts of the country, prosecutors and cops use lethality assessments to determine whether a domestic violence suspect is likely to harm the victim while the case is pending.

Lethality assessments are not used locally, but they are being considered, said Jennifer Dave, a former assistant Stark County prosecutor who is in charge of the section of the prosecutor’s office that works closely with crime victims.

A cop is the first step in a lethality assessment, said Day, an assistant prosecutor who specializes in domestic violence cases. The officer looks for behaviors, traits, attitudes and past history that “may give indicators for a higher risk of harm, but ... it’s heavily reliant on self-reporting (by the victim),” she said.

“If the victim is not being honest with us, it can be flawed — it’s not an absolute; it’s a risk assessment.”

Reach Ed at 330-580-8315 or

ed.balint@cantonrep.com

On Twitter: @ebalintREP

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